


Of Recklessness and Water

by Daegaer



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Friendship/Love, Kappa, M/M, Sanzo-ikkou - Freeform, Swimming, lakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-07
Updated: 2010-10-07
Packaged: 2017-10-12 11:53:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/124557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daegaer/pseuds/Daegaer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gojyo looks for some quiet time on the road and finds he doesn't mind sharing his peaceful spot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Recklessness and Water

It had been a long, hot drive. No killing - _yet_ , Gojyo thought - but plenty of sweating and griping, not to mention enduring the stink of Goku's damned snacks. Gojyo entertained a pleasant fantasy of driving Jeep: fast and easy, nothing to worry about but the occasional pothole or quicksand. Not that Hakkai'd ever agree, of course. Oh, no, it'd be all _Jeep can be so temperamental, Gojyo. Have you actually got a driving license, Gojyo?_ And maybe Jeep would sulk at the touch of an unfamiliar hand on the steering wheel. There might be biting. A dragon bite was nothing to look forward to, Gojyo thought, even if the dragon in question was a miniature shoulder-rider.

All right, he thought, driving was out. He'd settle for riding shotgun. That would be nice - Hakkai's peaceful presence beside him, just his silent, sidelong smiles for company, Goku's eternal chatter and questions directed at someone else for a change . . . the sound of Sanzo's gun going off in his ear approximately five seconds after Sanzo lost his temper, which would be approximately five seconds after he settled his priestly ass into the seat beside Goku.

Gojyo's little fantasy evaporated. He was going to be stuck with the monkey tomorrow and the next day and the next while Hakkai got blessed grumpy silence as a seatmate. What a thing to look forward to. He looked around the campsite in irritation. Goku was still talking, Sanzo looked like his fuse was especially short, and Hakkai was smiling gently and lovingly at the vegetables he was working his murderous rage out on. Hakkai claimed he didn't have any murderous rage, but Gojyo'd seen him chopping vegetables often enough to know better. Hakkai didn't even look up when Gojyo laughed at the thought, and he subsided into irritation again. Hakkai could at least pay attention to him _now_ , he thought.

"I'm going down to the lake," he said, wanting to get away from all of them if only for a few minutes. Hakkai made a little noise that meant nothing, Sanzo ignored him and Goku had never been listening. Gojyo made his escape.

The lake wasn't very big, barely more than a large pond, really. What it _was_ , was peaceful; still and pretty and damn inviting when you'd been sweating it out with a bunch of guys all day. Gojyo coughed politely, then clapped his hands.

"Hey. Anyone home?"

There was no answer. Good. He threw off his clothes and stepped into the clear, cool water. Damn, it felt good. He could feel the tensions of the day just lifting from him as he waded further in. It was always like that when he got a chance to swim. He swam lazily across the lake, feeling the muscles in his back and arms losing all their stiffness, then went as fast as he could halfway around it before cutting across the middle again. He was a good swimmer - _what a surprise_ , his inner-Sanzo sneered - and it felt wonderful to do something other than sit still and avoid being sprayed with Goku's crumbs all day. At last, feeling pleasantly wrung out and having earned the honest tiredness in his shoulders, he just floated and stared up at the sky, looking at the clouds as the soared across his field of vision.

"Goodness. There's a kappa in this lake."

Gojyo lazily paddled his hands till he'd rotated to an angle from where he could see Hakkai.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm in my element. Come on in, Hakkai. The water's fine."

"Oh, I don't know," Hakkai said, a little frown drawing his eyebrows down. "The kappa might try to drown me. They're awfully unpredictable fellows, wouldn't you say?"

"Good point," Gojyo said. "Are you a priest who's so anal-retentive you shit only once a century?"

"No," Hakkai said with the tiny, mean grin he rarely let anyone else see. He sat down and began pulling off his shoes and socks.

"Hmm," Gojyo said, considering. "Are you the world's most annoying monkey-boy?"

"That doesn't _sound_ like me," Hakkai said, pulling his sash off over his head.

"You're probably safe, then," Gojyo said. "Why not try it and find out?" He smiled at the little splashes and gasps that told him Hakkai was doing just that.

"It's cold," Hakkai said.

"It's perfect. Just what Doctor Gojyo ordered."

"I have some soap," Hakkai said, vaguely gesturing towards the shore. "We could all do with a wash."

"Just swim," Gojyo said. "Beautify yourself later." He peered at Hakkai, now standing awkwardly in waist-deep water.

"I'm not a very good swimmer," Hakkai said apologetically. "I won't be able to give you a proper race, or anything like that."

"Hey, we can't all be good at everything," Gojyo started to say when Hakkai's face went limp in shock. He went over backwards, vanishing beneath the surface without even time to yell, as if strong arms had dragged him down.

"Shit!" Gojyo yelled. There _had_ been a kappa. "Give him back, you bastard!" He dived under the surface, searching for deep holes where the damn thing would have dragged Hakkai, trying not to think of green eyes sightlessly open, pond weed mixed through Hakkai's hair. When he was grabbed from behind he twisted frantically, ready to tear the monster's throat out with his teeth if need be. He met Hakkai's eyes, took in the grin, and pushed them back up to sunlight and air.

"You should have seen your face," Hakkai laughed.

"Bastard!" Gojyo yelled, and held Hakkai's head under for long enough to make his point. " _Don't_ ," he said, when he let Hakkai up to gasp for air, "ever pull that sort of shit again! I nearly had a heart attack."

"It's good to know you care," Hakkai wheezed.

"Hey, are you all right?" Gojyo said as Hakkai bent over and coughed, struggling for breath. He leaned down to try and see what was wrong, and Hakkai grabbed him and held _his_ head under for a while. It turned into a laughing, graceless wrestling match as they tried to get a hold on each other's slippery bodies, till they gave up out of sheer tiredness, and floated side by side instead.

"We wondered where you'd got to," Hakkai said quietly. "You missed dinner. I saved your share from Goku."

"He's probably eaten it by now," Gojyo said, pleased to hear the unspoken _I wondered_.

"I wasn't going to join you," Hakkai said. "I told myself it was dangerous to swim so soon after eating, but you looked so peaceful --"

"So you're living dangerously?"

"Yes," Hakkai said cheerfully. "This is a kappa-haunted pool isn't it? I might get cramps - it'd be much easier for the kappa to drown me then."

"No drownings," Gojyo said firmly. I'll keep your head above water. There's not enough on you for a proper meal anyway."

"Thank you, Gojyo," Hakkai said in his eternally cheerful voice.

"Think nothing of it, Hakkai," Gojyo said, equally cheerful. They said nothing more, then, floating in peaceful silence, drifting against each other and away with half-murmured apologies till the sun was completely set and they clambered out, dripping and chilled.

"I'll go and see if anything's left for your dinner," Hakkai said, climbing into his clothes. "I'm sure I can make something fairly quickly."

"Thanks," Gojyo said, wishing he didn't have to go and face the squabbles and the sarcasm, his feeling of peace evaporating like water on a hot day.

"This must be a lovely spot when the stars are out," Hakkai said, looking round. "It'd be even more peaceful then. I wonder if the kappa would mind visitors here at night?"

Gojyo looked at him. "I bet he wouldn't mind," he said at last.

"All right," Hakkai said decisively. "You follow on when you're dressed and I'll get you some food. Don't eat too much, mind, I don't want you getting into trouble in the water later." With that he was gone.

Gojyo grinned and tugged on his clothes, pleased to have evidence that his company could be chosen rather than endured. He tossed a stone into the lake to see the ripples spread then jogged after Hakkai, calling, "Hakkai! Hey, Hakkai, wait up!"

Behind him the ripples spread in shallow wavelets, reaching the shore and fading away, leaving the lake's surface as calm and still as if they had never been in its clean, cold waters.


End file.
